MANILA – Former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on Thursday was charged with another complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to the controversial dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
Aside from plunder, which was the second against the former chief executive, Aquino was also charged for malversation of public funds and violation of Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio led the filing of the case for the non-bailable offense. It was the fifth Dengvaxia-related case lodged against Aquino.
Aside from Aquino, also named as respondents are former Budget and Management secretary Florencio Abad, former executive secretary Paquito Ochoa, Philippine Children’s Medical Center director Dr. Julius Lecciones, former Department of Health chief Janette Garin, and 17 other former and current Health officials.
Based on the complaint, Aquino and his fellow respondents “haphazardly planned and procured [Dengvaxia] in gross violation of regulatory processes of the [Food and Drug Administration], the [Formulary Executive Council] and the government procurement laws” at the expense of the health of more than 830,000 Filipinos who were administered with the vaccine.
Former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority chief Augusto Syjuco filed the plunder complaint against Aquino, while Gabriela Party-list filed graft charges.
Aquino also faces separate Dengvaxia-related charges at the Department of Justice and the Commission on Elections./PN
